As we've heard over the last few months, the Java Community Process (JCP) program is revitalized. Oracle and the community managed to break through many complex issues. The demand for Java technology standards continues, and the community completed a special election in May 2011 to fill the four vacated seats and get back to business.

Serving on the Executive Committee (EC) of the JCP program is not a lightweight gig. Attention, time, money, and energy are devoted to the tasks of reading specifications, attending and voting at regular meetings, and traveling to events, in order to evolve the program and ensure that proposed extensions to the Java platforms become standards. There may even be tension between catering to the best interests of a company and those of the Java community. The four candidates most recently elected to the EC are excited and honored to serve in this way.

Bruno Souza

John Weir

Oracle seemed intent on infusing new life into the Java Standard Edition (SE)/Enterprise Edition (EE) EC constituency through the two ratified seat nominations, who were both ratified by the community. In a first-ever move, Oracle nominated a Java User Group (JUG): SouJava, the very active Brazilian JUG – and one of the oldest and largest in the world -- represented by Bruno Souza. Oracle also nominated long-standing member Goldman Sachs, represented by John Weir. The Goldman Sachs nomination expands the JCP representation of tech-savvy, non-vendor businesses who are committed to the successful deployment of Java technology. Oracle made available an MP3 recording of JCP Chair Patrick Curran's April 14 conference-call interview of Bruno and John.

Additional nominees for the SE/EE EC's hotly contested open election seat included two JUGs (London Java Community and Central Ohio JUG), two individuals (George Gastaldi and Siddique Hameed), and an open source corporation (Liferay, Inc.). The London Java Community JUG, represented by Ben Evans, swept that part of the election with 69 votes, representing 46 percent of those who participated in the election. Alex Terrazas was the lone candidate elected for the Java Micro Edition (ME) EC seat.

Ben Evans

Alex Terrazas

The 2011 Executive Committee Elections Nominees page included a wealth of information on all the candidates, including qualification statements and autobiographies of the members' proposed representatives. Some candidates offered position papers as well. Oracle hosted a second conference call on April 26 to help JCP members get better acquainted with all the candidates. JCP members were encouraged to register for that call -- or listen to the recording later -- and hear the candidates answer the question of why they wanted to run for the committee.

All four new Executive Committee members took office on May 10, 2011. There's work to be done in the community, and the EC members seem determined to progress the evolution of the JCP program through the JCP.Next project, starting with JSR 348.